


In Lovers Meeting

by helplesslynerdy



Series: Crack!Fic AU [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-12
Updated: 2013-07-12
Packaged: 2017-12-19 05:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/879977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helplesslynerdy/pseuds/helplesslynerdy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose wants to help Donna find someone she lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Lovers Meeting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [okayokayigive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/okayokayigive/gifts).



“You know, you could allow a body a break every now and again.” Rose lifted her hand that was now slightly gunky with hair product and rotated her wrist until it popped. The Doctor whimpered, pushing his head back farther into her lap towards the now-absent hand. Rose scoffed and resumed running her fingers through his hair.

 

Her caresses began to slow to nonexistent again, and he opened his eyes to look up at her. She was gazing towards the library’s fire, worrying her bottom lip in thought.

 

“Hey,” he said softly, and she looked down at him. “What’s wrong, love?”

 

“I was just…thinking.” She again turned to look at the fire.

 

“About?”

 

“Donna. And her husband.”

 

“Husband? When did that happen? Did she get married during that spa trip I dropped you both off at? I knew that there was something wrong with that planet, too.  Too fluffy and nice, like that _Stepford Wives_ film. Although, it didn’t have a rapidly evolving consciousness…” The Doctor’s words ran off as he gave the slightest of involuntary shudders.

 

Rose moved her other hand from her side to his face, brushing her fingertips along his temple, and he let out a trembling breath. “I’m sorry.”

 

“Yeah.” He shook the thought away and looked back up at her. “About whom were you talking?”

 

“That man that she met in that virtual reality in The Library. Why did you never go look for him?”

 

His brow furrowed in confusion. “She said he wasn’t listed. We assumed he was just generated like the children.”

 

“Did you even take the time to check?” His eyes widened. “Or did you just want to leave the thought of River behind as quickly as possible?” Her eyebrow rose in challenge.

 

He looked away from her. “Perhaps.”

 

“So, let me go look for him.”

 

“What?!” The Doctor darted upright, and Rose had to stifle a laugh at the way his hair resembled Beakman- and then had to keep from chuckling at the multiple parallels. “You will do no such thing, Rose. It’s not safe!”

 

“Oh, hush. I travelled the universes looking for you and got where I wanted to go just fine, thanks.” She lifted her hands and began rearranging his hair back into its careful disarray. “Besides. You both were already there during that twenty-four hour grace period. I wasn’t- so it wouldn’t ruin the timelines.” She leaned back and considered her handiwork, then dropped her gaze to his eyes. “We wouldn’t be alive and together this moment without Donna, Doctor. Please.”

 

“All right.” He took her hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing her palm. He immediately grimaced. “If that’s what my hair product tastes like, I’m finding some new stuff. That isn’t half-nauseating.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

The next morning, the Doctor landed back at The Library in a different room than before- so his previous self would not see it. Through their bond he showed Rose an image of Lee, an image that he had seen while Donna was still the Doctor-Donna. He also told her what places to avoid, if possible, to keep from running into his and Donna’s previous selves. The Doctor was currently under the console, needlessly tinkering to keep himself occupied.

 

He heard the dull clang of the grating and knew that Donna was up. Rose had threatened him upon pain of death to not tell Donna. She wanted it to be a surprise for Lee to suddenly be in the TARDIS. He gave a little half-smile. Rose had always been much more pragmatic when it came to romance, especially when they had first met. After she had returned, things had changed quite a bit in that department. But they had also agreed that they did not want to get Donna’s hopes up unnecessarily.

 

“Spaceman?” Donna brought him back to the present. He knew that she could not see him under the grating.

 

“Under here!” he pulled himself out of the grating with a slightly rusty part to fiddle with.

 

She rounded the console to where he was seated, cross-legged. “So we’ve landed, yeah? Where’s Rose?” Those two barely let more than five feet come between them, let alone an entire room. “She finally get enough of your putting off the honeymoon?” She then snorted at the Doctor’s indignant look.

 

“I have something absolutely spectacular planned, Donna Noble, but I have to figure out the coordinates just so before we land.”

 

She rolled her eyes. “I think you’re just nervous, idiot alien that you are, and can’t settle on the ‘perfect place.’ You still want to impress her.”

 

His lips flattened, his look longsuffering. “I am a Time Lord, Donna. We don’t get nervous about such trivialities. Especially concerning _human_ rituals.”

 

She tutted. “Whatever you say.” She came to sit down beside him. “So where is she?”

 

“Oh, she’s outside.”

 

“Where are we? Why aren’t you with her?”

 

“This was something she had to do by herself.” His tongue was against the back of his teeth as he poked at the contraption in his hands.

 

“Is it dangerous?”

 

“No. Well, shouldn’t be.” The Doctor shrugged without looking up. “She may be jeopardy-friendly but can mind herself.” He unconsciously rubbed his arm where she had pinched him when he tried to fight her on that very subject this morning.

 

Donna’s jaw dropped. “This from the man who barely lets her out of his sight to use the loo. What if she needs you?”

 

“We’re bonded, remember? She can always reach out to me immediately.”

 

She smacked his arm. “What if she’s knocked out? You just admitted that there was a possibility of danger. Where are we?”

 

“Oi!” he rubbed at his arm again, as she had uncannily smacked it in the same part. “It’s just another planet! I’m sure she’ll be fine!”

 

She pushed herself up and went towards the doors. “Well, if you aren’t going to keep an eye on her, then I will.”

 

“No, no, no, no! You can’t!” He ran around her and grabbed either shoulder to keep her from progressing.

 

She swatted his hands away. “Get your alien hands off me, Spaceman!”

 

“You can’t go out there!”

 

“Just you watch me.” Donna hated doing it, really, but when he blocked her again, she slapped him across the face.  The Doctor reeled into the handrails as Donna threw open the doors. She then slammed them shut as quickly as she had opened them. Trembling, she backed away from the doors, head shaking from side to side in denial. The Doctor barely heard her whisper, “Couldn’t be.” She leaned back against the railing to support herself before looking up sharply. “Why are we here?”

 

The Doctor sighed heavily. “She’s looking for someone.”

 

“Who?” she asked, almost so quietly he couldn’t hear.

 

“Lee.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Donna had stared at him for an incalculable amount of time, which was saying something for a Time Lord, and then had escaped to, he assumed, her room. After bemoaning his inevitable fate at the hands of one quite-frightening-when-she-wanted-to-be bond-mate, he went off in search of Donna.

 

As he passed the library, he noticed that the door was open. Donna was sitting on the floor, leaning against a chair near the fireplace. Whether she heard him enter the room or not, she did not turn. He lowered himself down beside her.

 

They sat in silence for a while, until Donna spoke. “I had wanted to ask you so many times to go back in that first week. I wanted to be sure that I had done all I could have…I should have stood at that platform until everyone had left.”

 

He turned to look at her, the firelight making her hair glow like the slow burning of molten lava. “You’ve never hesitated to ask me before. Why didn’t you then?” he asked.

 

She refused to turn to him. “I knew how you felt about the whole River thing- and timelines and all that.” Her hand absently pulled at the loose fabric of her cardigan. 

 

He knew that if she really wanted something, she wouldn’t hesitate to even use his pain to appeal to him. “Pompeii?”

 

Donna finally looked at him, chagrined. “I- I know.”

 

“What are you afraid of, Donna?”

 

For him to be insightful or to seek her out in emotional moments was so rare- she couldn’t help but be truthful. “What if he doesn’t want to be found? I mean, we were happy then- but that was a virtual reality. For all I know, he already has a wife and kids in the real universe.” Her voice then became nigh inaudible. “He might not have even existed.” She shook her head and cleared her throat, but her voice still contained a tremor. “But even if he does, he may not want me.”

 

The Doctor looked at her incredulously then looked at her intently. "You are Donna Noble. There is a Pompeian family now alive because of you. The Ood are singing- there are a million people that could have been turned into little babies made of fat!" He grinned at her, hoping to elicit a reaction. She continued to focus away from him, expression still light years away.

 

The Doctor sighed. "Donna. For one shining moment, you were the most important woman in all of creation. Without you, none of us would be here." He turned back to the fire- his Adam's apple bobbing. "Without you," his voice was barely audible, "I would not have Rose back.” He looked back at her. “That’s why she asked to do this.”

 

Donna finally faced him and a small smile had worked its way up. "I still think the blond is completely barmy for falling in love with someone she could blow over with a good strong puff."

 

The Doctor's eyes widened until he started giggling.

 

"What?" Donna inched away from him.

 

"Oh, inside joke. I'll explain it to you later." He wiped his eyes. "First things first, if Lee fell in love with you in that virtual reality, where I’m sure you were your normal, quiet, demure self," he was rewarded with a light slap on the arm, "there's no way that he's forgotten you or doesn't want to be with you. He would have to be a stellar man to put up with that lip."

 

Donna huffed half-heartedly in concession. "I was wrong before though. With Lance."

 

"We all have our moments." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I have been banned from traveling anywhere near the French aristocracy for the next millennia." She circled one hand around, gesturing for him to continue, but he shook his head. "Nope. I am not adding fuel to that fire. I wouldn't have a moment's peace for a week! And don't you go asking Rose, either!" He pointed a long finger in her face, which she flicked away. "I am currently in her good graces and would like to stay there as long as possible, thank you!"

 

She snorted. He stood to his feet and offered her a hand. “You are brilliant. If he is half the man you went on about in your notebook, he’ll be ecstatic to see you.” He turned away with a muttered, “Help him.”

 

He walked out the door, and Donna paused. Her eyes narrowed. “OI, SPACEMAN!” she bellowed down the hall. “WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY BLOOMIN’ NOTEBOOK?!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Rose had stayed by the platform for several hours watching every person go through and teleport off the planet. No sign of a Lee McAvoy. Her shoulders hunched forward a little more with each passing hour. Maybe he really had been generated. She reluctantly turned to go back to the TARDIS.

 

As she turned into the hallway where her beloved blue box was sitting, Rose heard a voice calling, “D-Donna? D-d-donna Noble!” She ran towards the voice and saw a tall, brawny man with dark hair.

 

“Lee McAvoy?” Rose asked.

 

“That’s m-me. Have y-y-you seen a Donna N-noble?”

 

She grinned at him. “Yes! Here, you wait just right there- I’ll get her for you!” Rose thought that it might be best if Donna explained the TARDIS before he saw her just walking out of a small box. She ran to the TARDIS and let herself in.

 

The Doctor and Donna both looked up. The Doctor had his normal ‘It’s my Rose!’ grin on his face, and Donna looked heartbreakingly hopeful. Rose couldn’t even tease her with the knowledge and went up and grabbed Donna’s hand. “There’s someone waiting outside in the hallway for you.”

 

Donna’s eyes got rounder before she began to tear up.

 

Rose pulled her into a hug. “He was looking for you. There were maybe twenty people left-and he was roaming the halls, calling your name.”

 

The older woman still looked completely shell-shocked. “He’s out there?”

 

“Yes,” Rose laughed lightly. “Go on, then! Oh- you might want to warn him about the transportation, yeah?”

 

“That’s the least of my worries of explaining to him right now.” Donna wiped her eyes, looking at Rose questioningly to make sure her makeup hadn’t smeared. After a reassurance, Donna looked to them both, squared her shoulders and nodded, and opened the doors.

 

The Doctor came up behind Rose, wrapping his arms around her waist. She laid her arms on top of his as she leaned her head back against his chest.

 

After a moment, the Doctor spoke. “Thank you.”

 

“For what?” she asked, turning in his arms to face him. She noticed that his eyes were suspiciously moist. “Hey now, what’s all this? Oncoming Storm? Pfft. Oncoming Puddle, more like.” She got up on tiptoe and kissed the tip of his nose.

 

He rolled his eyes and then began leaning over her. “I’ll have you know, Rose Tyler, that Oncoming Storm was a very hard-earned name by a very scary man.”

 

Rose giggled. “With Spiderman on his pants?”

 

“The bad guys don’t have to know that.”

 

She came up again on her toes, her lips brushing his ear. “And besides, not much is scary to the big Bad Wolf.”

The Doctor spluttered, causing Rose to pull back quizzically. “I’m sorry, love- Donna said something about you puffing, and I immediately thought-” he dissolved into giggles.

 

“And you probably didn’t even explain to the poor woman why it was funny.” Rose shook her head. “No wonder she thinks you’re completely daft.”

 

He pouted, causing her to laugh. “So you think I’m daft, too?”

 

“Yes.” Rose moved so her lips ghosted over his with each word. “But you’re my daft alien.” She then caught his protruding bottom lip between her own.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Donna walked down the hallway. She pulled on her fingers then shook them out, hoping to hide all signs of nervousness. The edge of the hallway turned around a pillar- around that smooth marble her fate would be decided.  She reached out an arm to lean against it, drawing in a couple of cleansing breaths before finally taking that last step.

 

As the shadows gave way to the light in the next hallway, she could finally see Lee. He was pacing in the way that he was wont whenever stressed. She came a few steps closer and then stopped once she knew he saw her.

 

"D-donna?"

 

Her tentative smile grew to a beam as he loped up and encircled her with his arms. As he leaned back to look at her, she framed his face with her hands. "You are real," she whispered.

 

Lee angled forward hesitantly before pressing his lips to hers. Tears began to track down Donna's face as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss slowed and she pulled back, losing herself in the shade of gray-blue that had come to mean home.

 

Both closed their eyes simultaneously as he rested his forehead on hers. "So are you."

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own _Doctor Who_ or its brilliant characters.


End file.
